2012 Bumgarner Derecho

I'm pleased to have this wonderful guitar for sale from Craig Bumgarner, a Maryland based luthier who has long been a regular participant in the Gypsy jazz community both on our forum, at festivals, and with his own group the Hot Club of DC. A boat builder by trade, Craig has turned his highly refined wood working skills towards the art of Selmer Maccaferri style luthierie.

This is Craig's Castelluccia style model which is modeled closely after the classic Jacques Castelluccia guitars of the 40s and 50s. The top was constructed from a fine piece of Western red cedar and is supported by only three braces, a design feature that Castelluccia pioneered which allows the top to resonate at peak efficiency. Craig opted for beautiful Claro walnut back and sides which boosts the guitar's high end response and also helps keep the mids clear and defined. The neck was fashioned from an attractive piece of butternut wood and is reinforced using carbon-fiber rods. This is similar to Selmer's original neck design and is very resilient and lightweight, allowing for greater resonance than a heavier truss rod would allow. The savings in weight is plainly evident as the guitar only weighs a mere 3.85 lbs!

Craig did a wonderful job of capturing the classic Castelluccia tone, making this guitar a great choice for those looking for a modern, easy playing instrument that has the old world bark and mojo of a finely aged vintage instrument. The most outstanding aspect of this guitar's tone is it's full, warm lower midrange which helps create big beefy chords and thick, mellifluous leads. Furthermore, the guitar's dry response and low end clarity produce a defined and focused stream of sound that allows one to be easily heard in even the most volume challenged situations. Already mature out of the box, one can only imagine what an exquisite tone this guitar will develop after years of playing!

This used example has some light pickwear on the top and some very minor fretwear. Otherwise, this instrument is in near perfect condition.

It is rare I have handmade guitars of this quality for under $4000, and even rarer ones that sound this good. This instrument is no doubt a fantastic deal so take advantage of this attractive price as I'm sure Craig's prices will go up has his reputation grows.

This is the CASH price...add 3% (4% for International orders) if you'd like to pay with a credit card.